Tie plate



Reissued J an. 27, 1925.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM STEPHEN BoYQE, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TIEPLATE. i

Qiginal No. 1,497,667, dated llune 17, 192e, Serial No. 675,259, led November 17, 19`23. Application for reissue led November 14, A1924. Serial No. 75091)(14. y

` drawings, and to the reference characters marked thereon, which form a. part of this specification. j

This invention relates to an improvement in tie plates, and will be hereindescribedin -connection with the type known in the trade as compression lates; suoli,`

for example, as illustrated in nited States Letters Patent No. 1,219,224, issued to Edwin H. Bell, on March 13th, 1917.

Compression tie plates arel characterizedby having on a portion of their under or bottom surfaces, transverse, pointed, tieengaging ribs and between these ribs, a plurality of parallel, arcuate undulations or depressions, extending lengthwise of the plate and of thetie, and which intersect in lines to form intermediate, parallel ribs extending in the plane of the bottom of the platey and lengthwise thereof. These latter ribs enter the tie between the fibres of the tie and by reason of the curved, arcuate surfaces, compress the fibres together and Ihence the tradename compression tie lates.

While the tie plate of the said Bell patent possesses certainv advantages and improvements inthe art, it has nevertheless demonstrated in use in track that the sharpened, transverse bottom ribs between' which the 'arcuate de ressions extend, actuallycut or sever the fibres ofthe wood when the plate is being seated in the tie. This action of the ribs which are transverse to the grain of the tie is considered by some engineering experts in railroad track construction to be a disadvantage in that it tends to the premature ydestruction of the tie `and also requires a relatively longer period of use in 'track before the plate becomes proporly seated on the tie for prolonged. use. During this period and before the plate becomes securely imbedded in the tie, it shifts, more or less, and wabbles on the tie under the wave motion and thrusts and strains of the rails due to train movements. thereon.

The main object of my invention is to produce a tie plate, the under surface of which is free from all sharp or fibre cuttingribs or edges, while at the same time is possessed of parts on the bottom of the' plate ada ted to readily enter the tie and seat the p ate firmly thereon.

Another object is to strengthen tie plates subjected to bending or breaking strains in suoli manner as to resist said strains and reduce the tendency to bending or breaking to a negligible quantity; in other words, to produce a tie plate, of 'the compression or other type, having the minimum of metal and the 'maximum of rigidity and strength against the buckling or breaking strains to which it will be subjected, combined 'with the maximum efliciency inthe performance of its intended functions.

Another object of my invention is to produce a tie plate having its bottom surface so constructed as to retain all the advantages of the compression grooves or undulations of the compression type of tie plate, while overcoming the objections above referred to, and at the same time producing other advantages. l

These and other advantages will appear as IA proceed with the description of my invention, which is illustrated herein as applied to'a compression type of t-ie plate, but

Vview through the plate, the section being in the plane of the dotted line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a vertical, transverse, sectional view of the tie plate, the section being in the plane of the dotted line l-l of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a perspective view, on a smaller scale, of a railroad tie showing the adzmans work preparatory to placing a tie plate thereon.

Figs. 6 and 7 are sectional views, similar to Fig. 3, butl on a slightly larger scale, showing the two positions the tie plate assumes upon the tie, as hereinafter more fully explained.

Referring now more in detail to that embodiment in which I havey chosen to illustrate my invention in the accompanying drawings, A represents the tie plate as a` wholeythe same being of the conventional,

rectangular, oblong shape, having.a flat railv tom surface of the plate between these transverse surfaces 6, 6, may be of any desired configuration but as shown in the drawings, in t formed a plurality of parallel, arcuate undulations, depressions or grooves 7, 7, which are .comparatively flat or shallow. These grooves extend at right angles to the projeeting members 5, 5,-that is to say, lengthwise of the plate. The inner or side edges 8 of the members 5, 5, extend at anu angle to said surfaces 6, 6, are rounded on top and terminate in a curve at the bottom. Thus a rounded corner 9 is formed at the top and a fillet 10 is formed at the bottom between the side edge 9 and the surface of-the groove 7.

The surfaces 11, 11, of the bottom of the plate, beyond the outer edges of the projecting members 5, 5, are formed on a different plane from but, preferably, in a plane parallel to the plane of the bearing surfaces 6, 6. When thebearing surfaces 6, 6, rest upon the tie, asmall space, indicated in Fig. 6 at 12, separates the surfaces 11, 11, of the plate ends from the top surface of the tie B. The surfaces 6, 6, are made with rounded corners 13 along their outer margins, and the extreme end margins of the plate are likewise rounded, as indicated at 14.

The arcuate surfaces of the depressions or grooves 7 intersect in a plurality of parallel lines in the plane of the bearing surfaces 6, thereby forming a plurality of parallel ribs-15 extending lengthwise of the plate intfrmediate the two projecting members 5, 5. lhese ribs l5 thus run parallel with the grain or fibres of the wood of the tie when the plate A is placed thereon for use. The plate may have spike holes 16, if desired.

lt is common practice in track construction, in the laying of new ties in the road bed and also in the relaying of plates and rails upon old ties in track, to shape or" fashion the top surface of the ties to receive thil tie plate. This is done with an adz, by cutting away a portion of the surface, as indicated at o in Fig. 5, so that the plate will be more or less seated in the cut-away space.` If the adzman is not skiiled, or if Ile is careless, this work results in the formation of an irregular space b so that the is intermediate portion there are` plate when first laid on the tie will rest upon spaced apart bearing surfaces in the tie.

'There lbeing no intermediate support bemediate portion of the bottom of the platev would have no support by reason of the cut away portion I) of the tie.

Referring to Fig. 6, it will be seen that no such difficulty as just mentioned will occur with the laying of my improved tie plate in track, since, in the first instance, the surfaces 11, 11, of the plate do not rest upon the tie, and only the outer portions of the bearing surfaces 6,6, and their rounded marginal corners 13, 13, are in contact with the tie. When pressure is brought to bear upon the plate A by the workman in seating the plate or in spiking, or by the passage of a trainload thereover, the load will be from the top surface 1 down through the body of j the plate andthe metal having the downwardly projecting bearing members 5, and

' thence to the tie, thus eliminating all tendency to buckling or breaking. These/projecting members 5 will almost instantly become imbedded to a slight extent in the tie, and as the downward movement under load continues, the space 12 will be quickl eliminated and the surfaces 11, 11, at eaci end of the plate, will rest upon the tie. The members, 5, 5 are presseddown into the cut f away portion ZJ and this is more readily accomplished by reason of the fact that the surfaces 6, 6 are relatively narrow .and that each has its outer corner rounded, as at 13. At the same time, where a compression type of plate is used, the ribs 15 begin to engage and entery the tie between the fibres thereof and by reason 'of the curved, arcuate surloo lio

faces of the grooves 7, 7, the fibres are i spread apart as the tapered rib 15 continues to move into the tie, compressing the fibres.

In use, the seating of the plate A'on the tie B, whether of the compression or other type, will continue until the bottom of the plate is driven into the tie sutiiriently so that the surfaces 11, 11, are slightly' below the top surfaceof the tie, as indicated at 17 in Fig. 7. In this position. by reason of the construction above described, togetherwith the spikes used iir secuing the rail to the plate and the plate to the tie, the plate A will be firmly seated upon and united with the tie B and will resist all tendency to 'shift or wobble under train load and'will lend itself to further depression into the tie as the use in=` track is continued.

By reason. of the fact that the grooves 7 -eXtend -lengthwise of the plate and are the surfaces 6, 6, only,V resting thereon, the

tendency to bend or buckle is further re sisted `by the truss construction of a plurality of arched underl surfaces intimately joined and cooperating! with the longitudinal ribs l5. As the downward thrust continues, the ribs 15 and the surfaces 6, G, will be entered further into the tie, the ibres being compressed together until a perfect union of plate and tie results. When this occurs, the load is 'properly transmitted through vthe plate to the tie.

When tie plates break, the break usually occurs at or adjacent to the juncture of thev top surface and the rail abutting shoulder. lVhere the under side of the tie 'plate is provided adjacent to this location with sharpcned ribs or fibre-cutting projections, it is found that the plate has agreater tendency to break at this point` This objection and difficulty are entirely eliminated by the pres-v ent invention` together with the rounded (orners of the side edges S of the relatively narrow bearing members 5, 5, and Aby the additional metal fillets l0 placed in the plate by joining the side edges 8 with the arcuate surfaces 7, thus giving additional metal where metal is needed without appi'eciatbly increasing the Weight of the plate.

It will, of course, be understood that while I have shown the rail bearing surface l to be flat, such surface may conform to any conventional or special configuration; the'canted or the cambered top surface, for instance, coacting equally with my improvements in the bottom of the tie plate. It is also manifest that the construction of the bottom of the plate intermediate; the tie bearing surfaces G, G, maybe of any configuration other than that of the grooves and ribs of the compression type of plate illustrated. lThese and other changes may be made if desired, provided the essential features, namely: the end bearing surfaces Il, 11, and the transverse, relatively narrow bearing surfaces G, 6, formed in different planes, and said surfaces being without fibre cutting points or edges, be retained.

I claim as my invention:

l. A tie plate having on its bottom, intermediate its ends, two longitudinally spaced apart, relatively narrow bearing surfaces extending transversely from' one side of the plate to the other, a plurality of curved, arcuate compression grooves extending longitudinally between said bearing surfaces, the ends of the plate bottom having flat tie engaging surfaces located beyond the bearing surfaces and in a different plane therefrom, and the arcuate surfaces Aof the grooves intersecting in a plane coincident with the plane of said bearing surfaces.

2. A tie plate having on its bottom, intermediate its ends, two longitudinally spaced apart, relatively narrow bearing surfaces extending transversely from one end of the plate to the other, a plurality of curved, arcuate compression grooves extending longitudinally between said bearing surfaces, the ends of the plate bottom having fiat tie engaging surfaces located beyond the bearing surfaces and in a diderent plane therefrom, and the arcuate surfaces cf the grooves intersecting in a plane coincident with the plane of said bearing surfaces, a curved strengthening fillet joining the compression grooves to the adjacent side margins of the bearing surfaces;

3. A tie plate, the tie engaging bottom of which comprises two transversely extending and longitudinal] spaced apart tie bearing surfaces, a pluraity of parallel, flattened, arcuate grooves or undulations between said bearing surfacesv and extending lengthwise of the plate, the surfaces of said grooves or undulations intersecting to provide a plurality of `parallel tie engaging ribs extending in the direction of the length of the plate and located in the plane of the said spaced bearing surfaces, and the bottom surfaces of the ends of the plate being in a different but parallel plane to the plane of the bearing surfaces and ribs.

4, A tiecplate having on its bottom, intermediate its ends, two longitudinally spaced apart, relatively narrow bea-ring surfaces extending transversely from one side of the plate to the other, a plurality of curved, arcuate compression grooves eX- tending longitudinally between said bearing surfaces, the ends of the plate bottom having fiat tie engaginff surfaces located beyond the bearing surfacesand in a different plane therefrom, and the arcuate surfaces of the grooves intersecting in a plane coincidentwith the plane of said bearing surfaces, the bearing surfaces being provided with rounded corners throughout vtheir length. e

5. A tie plate having on its bottom intermediate its ends, two spaced apart, relatively narrow, downwardly projecting tie bearing surfaces, a median recess in theplate bottom intermediate said narrow surfaces, which latter surfaces are in a different plane from the surfaces of the plate at its ends.

6. A tie plateeprovided upon its bottom between its ends, with downwardly rejecting, relatively narrow and spaced) apart when the plate is being seated t ereon, thev surface of the bottom of the plate at its ends and the bearingsurfaces of said narrow members being in different planes.

7. A tie plate having its .median and its end portions out away and separated by relatively narrow, spaced apart, .tie bearas my invention, I ax my signature, in 1 ing surfaces to intially seat on the tie.

8. A tie plate having a median cut away portion in its bottom, and also a out away portion nearest each end, the surfaces of said out away end portions being in a different plane from the ultimate bearing snrface of median portion, and fiat,

relatively narrow, spaced apart and downwardly projecting tie bearing surfaces between the intermediate out away portion ferent from the plane of the ultimate bearing surface of the intermediate portion wlen the plate is seated. y

that VI claim the foregoing n testimony,

the presence of two witnesses, this 12th day of-November, 1924.

Witnesses: TAYLOR E. BROWN, B. L. MACGREGORL 4and the end portions, and in a plane dif- WILLIAM STEPHEN BOYCE. t 

